Bruins’ clinch condition

Boston did not clinch on its own Saturday. The Bruins lost 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning, then needed the New Jersey Devils to beat the Detroit Red Wings in regulation to lock up a playoff berth. (nhl.com) (espn.com) The National Hockey League’s April 11 clinching scenarios laid out three paths for Boston before the games began. The simplest was a Bruins win over Tampa Bay; the fallback route depended on New Jersey beating Detroit, with stricter regulation-win requirements if Boston only got one point or no points. (nhl.com) Boston never got that first route. Morgan Geekie gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the second period, but Brandon Hagel tied it at 6:37 of the third and Emil Lilleberg scored the winner with 1:35 left in a 2-1 Lightning victory at TD Garden. (espn.com) (nhl.com) That result pushed the race onto the out-of-town scoreboard. Detroit entered Saturday at 91 points in 80 games, while Boston had 96 points in 80 games and Ottawa had 96 points in 80 games, leaving the Red Wings with almost no margin for error. (espn.com) New Jersey delivered the exact result Boston needed. The Devils beat the Red Wings 5-3 in Detroit, scoring three unanswered goals in the third period after trailing 3-2. (nhl.com) Because the Devils won in regulation, Detroit was eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention on Saturday. That same result satisfied Boston’s remaining clinch condition from the league’s pregame scenarios. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) The setup showed how tight the Eastern Conference race had become with six days left in the regular season. In the National Hockey League format, the top three teams in each division plus two wild cards in each conference reach the playoffs, so one regulation result in another city can decide a berth. (nhl.com) Boston was also fighting for position, not just survival. Before Saturday’s games, the Bruins held the first wild card in the East and were two points ahead of Ottawa, while Tampa Bay was chasing home-ice advantage in the Atlantic Division race. (nhl.com) So the Bruins’ playoff spot came down to two scoreboards on April 11: their own in Boston, and Detroit’s. They lost the first game and still got in when the Devils finished the second. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2)